Week 3: Unrelated observations

Barbie Dream Castle and gardens in the French style in the ancient Roman capital city, Trier.

I'm keeping a running list of things that I find interesting or unique about Germany. It's too large to tackle all at once, so here goes nothing.




Grocery shopping

In the US, I often find myself going into Walmart for just one thing, then leaving $100 poorer with no idea what happened. Here? Not so. And the reason is that because I have no car, whatever I buy I have to walk home carrying, probably in my backpack. Plastic bags aren't free, so people bring their own re-useable bags to the grocery store to carry their groceries. People also have to pay a deposit to use a shopping cart.

Sometimes I have to go to 3 stores to find everything I need to buy to make one meal, which is a little frustrating, but I'll eventually learn which stores have what. Or starve.  

Haribo

Gummy everything. Enough said.

Lift

If you think there is a beverage more refreshing than apple juice and soda, you are wrong. It's in vending machines, the cafeteria, restaurants; anywhere that sells water or Coca-cola also sells Lift. After a tour of Bonn the first week I was here, the tour guide asked us if anyone needed a break for an apple-soda, so I gather that Germans also think it's the best thing since sliced bread (or "American sandwich bread" as it is called here). 

Lift Apfel-Schorle: Nectar of the Gods

Children on the train

First of all, kids that can't be more than 7 or 8 years old ride the subway alone here, which absolutely blows my mind. When I go to class in the mornings, they fill up the trains. I've also seen several parents park their children in strollers then go sit down on the other side of the train, leaving the toddler completely unattended. People generally act like they feel safe. 

... To be continued...